Plenty of circumstantial evidence at Donald Trump’s trial
But prosecutors will need Michael Cohen to seal the deal
Donald Trump’s criminal trial, soon to enter its fifth week, has felt like drawn-out foreplay. There have been moments of frisson. But as with any such encounter that stretches on and on, arousal waxes and wanes, prompting a few fateful questions. Where is this going? Hurry it up already? Ultimately, climax in this trial will depend on the testimony of one man: Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former lawyer. And he is not due on the witness stand for several days yet.
Instead this week jurors heard from Stormy Daniels, a former porn star and current host of the gay-dating show “For the Love of DILFs”. The felony charges against Mr Trump stem from a payment that Mr Cohen made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, to keep her story of sex with the then candidate out of the press. Her description of that encounter in 2006—which Mr Trump denies—was salacious. There was talk of spanking and missionary position. The defence tried to paint her as a money-grubbing extortionist, to which she replied matter-of-factly: “Don’t we all want to make more money in our jobs?”
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Waiting to climax”
United States May 11th 2024
- America’s federal district courts may soon be harder to manipulate
- Plenty of circumstantial evidence at Donald Trump’s trial
- American pupils have missed too much school since the pandemic
- How Kristi Noem missed her shot to be vice-president
- Why online marketplaces have not killed the estate sale
- Will unions sweep the American South?
- Why the Republicans will convene in a forge of American socialism
More from United States
Are America’s leading presidential candidates up to it?
Americans are worryingly unconfident in the sanity of the two men
America is educating a nation of investors
Encouraged by research, more states are requiring schools to teach personal finance
Lauren Boebert’s primary is a window into everyday Trumpism
Republican primary voters’ favourite thing is anything that horrifies Democrats